American Citizen Global Citizen

Discusses how to work effectively with any one, in any part of the world, by realizing our global common ground and explores the basic skills necessary to fix the problems facing all of humanity.

First Published in 2002. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.

"We are all aware of the number of global problems that need to be solved in order to save the future of the world- finance, the environment and terrorism, to name a few. But as the author of this stimulating and practical book makes clear, it is not enough for us to wait for governments and international companies to sort things out. We all have to realise our global common ground amidst differences everywhere in our lives, both at home and at work, locally and abroad. At the moment we are putting forward piecemeal solutions from the standpoint of each country when we really need to start seeing ourselves as citizens of the world. he author, Mark Gerzon, is perfectly placed to explain this important new step which we all need to take. He travels the globe lecturing, consulting and training, on the one hand showing Chinese poiticians how to change their mindsets and, on the other, encouraging the world's top think tanks to work together and to sharpen four key skills- witnessing, learning, connecting and partnering. Only when we have all truly become 'global citizens' does he believe we will start to solve the many crises facing our world."

In the spirit of Ivan Illich’s 1968 speech ‘To hell with good intentions’, the book takes aim at a ubiquitous form of contemporary ideology, namely the concept of global citizenship. Its characteristic discourse can be found inhabiting a nexus of four complexes of ‘ruling’ institutions, namely universities with their international service learning, the United Nations and allied international institutions bent on global citizenship education, international non-governmental organizations and foundations promoting social entrepreneurship, and global corporations and their mouthpieces pitching corporate social responsibility and sustainable development. The question is: in the context of Northern or Western imperialism and US-led, neoliberal, global, corporate capitalism, and the planetary Armageddon they are wringing, what is the concept of global citizenship doing for these institutions? The studies in the book put this question to each of these four institutional complexes from broadly political-economic and post-colonial premises, focusing on the concept’s discursive use, against the background of the mounting production of the global non-citizen as the global citizen’s ‘other’. Addressed to all users of the concept of global citizen(ship) from university students and faculty in global studies to social entrepreneurs and United Nations bureaucrats, the book’s studies ultimately ask whether the idea helps or hinders the global quest for social and economic justice.

How can you be a good global citizen? By understanding the world we live in and how we can effect change. From school rules, right up to laws made by the government, we have to follow different kind of rules every day. But why do we have rules? How are they made? Who has the power to change them? This book explores what rules are for, who makes the rules; how governments and power works in society; and what we can do when the rules are unfair. Not only does it help children understand systems of democracy and how people have the ability to influence the rules of society, it features case studies on civil rights and activities to make campaign videos and organise a debate club.

In The Global Citizen, Donella Meadows challenges us to view the world as an interconnected system for which we are all responsible. This collection of the best of Meadows's environmental writings demonstrates her rare ability to discuss complex issues such as population, poverty and development, and solid waste disposal in a clear, concise, engaging way for a wide audience.

How can you be a good global citizen? By understanding the world we live in and how we can effect change. This book explores what human rights are, what happens when they are respected and when they are limited, for example losing your right to freedom if you commit a crime. The book looks at movements such as Black Lives Matter and at how we can all help to protect human rights through activation. The I'm a Global Citizen series explores the concept of 'Global Citizenship': recognising that the world we live in is unfair and unequal, but promoting individual and collective action to challenge and change this. Each book has information, fun activities, challenges, case studies and ideas for group and individual action presented with fun illustrations. The books promote the idea that we have power as individuals: each of us can change things, and each of us has choices about how we behave. They encourage children aged 8+ to counter ignorance and intolerance.

What is global citizenship, exactly? Are we all global citizens? In The Practices of Global Citizenship, Hans Schattle provides a striking account of how global citizenship is taking on much greater significance in everyday life. This lively book includes many fascinating conversations with global citizens all around the world. Their personal stories and reflections illustrate how global citizenship relates to important concepts such as awareness, responsibility, participation, cross-cultural empathy, international mobility, and achievement. Now more than ever, global citizenship is being put into practice by schools, universities, corporations, community organizations, and government institutions. This book is a must-read for everyone who participates in global events--all of us.